Robert McConnell - Maduro pipe tobacco reviews

Review

Please log in to add or edit a review. If you do not have an account yet, you can sign up for one here.

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 15 of 15 reviews of this tobacco
marosi	08/06/2012	Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of the most disappointing blends that i have smoke due to the huge disparity between the tin aroma, which is fantastic, and the flavor and complexity during the smoke, both of which are nonexistent. It is like going to a steak house and being told that they have run out of everything except for chicken! The tin aroma is one the best, if not the best, I have ever encountered. Fantastic, rich, and mouthwatering. The tobacco is also a beautiful dark, dark brown, and it is just really very enticing. Savor this, because it is all downhill once you put it into the pipe. It packs fine, but does not light readily, and requires regular relights. Worst of all, it has no flavor. The perique is non-existent, it is weak in strength, and it provides only a very basic tobacco flavor, with no depth or complexity. while it gets a little better throughout the bowl, it does not develop near enough to justify wasting precious smoking time with this when there are a world of other blends out there that are so much better, including many by Robert McConnell. Were it not for the great tin aroma I would give this one star, but dammit sometimes I just crack the tin and sniff it because it smell so good, and then smoke something else when it it time to get down to business.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Virginia lover	02/23/2012	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Black Cavendish, Burley with some Virginia and a sprinkle of Perique. The rum topping is subdued but complements nicely the fig and raisin flavors. Too aromatic and weak for me but probably a good tobacco for Black Cavendish smokers.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Fountainhead	01/20/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I was drawn to this because I liked McConnell's "Oriental" and thought that the same pure approach would impress me with "Maduro". Unfortunately, the bests part of this blend are how it smells out of the tin and the room note it creates. It is bland. Not much taste of rum or perique. Though, for being bland, it is a very smooth and inoffensive smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Dubinthedam	02/03/2010	Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
This appears and taste very much like a rum cavendish, I was a little disappointed by it, even though the store owner sold it in large quanities. A good blending tobacco in my opinion, adds a very natural rum taste to any other blend and beats the pants off most other aromatics. Quite mild in strength.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
bosbilliard	03/30/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I have to say I really enjoy this blend. There is definitely a Black Cavendish-like quality to this tobacco, as it has a nice, sweet, rich flavor. I agree with other reviews here that the rum topping isn't really present, but that doesn't take away from it's flavor. Rich, sweet Virginia tobaccos make for a great flavor overall, and with an excellent room note I find this one worth trying.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
JLong	03/12/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I had to smoke a few bowls before my taste buds began to savor the flavor of this tobacco. At first it seemed..well..flat. But after giving it some time, this blend has become a keeper for me. Worth dedicating a good briar to. It has a mildly sweet, licoricey, and spicy flavor. The tastes linger for quite some time after smoking a bowl and are very soothing, putting my mind in a meditative state (as crazy as that may sound). A great "eaving" tobacco to unwind with.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Skando	01/30/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable
Well, I pay quite frequent visits to Maduro and just going to finish this current tin, maybe 2/3 years old. The smell of the tobacco in the tin I say it's "elegant". I can smell both the rum topping and the Perique (not of stewed fruits, but vinegarish). I really like it. Instead, the smoke I say it's "understated", which is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm forced to search all the notes - sweet, piquant and liqueurish - with attention, and dedicate myself to the pure act of smoking a pipe. In this way, as soon as I get the right rythm, those very delicate nouances make their appearance and make this tobacco pleasant and fascinating. This makes Maduro be a leisure tobacco, not an all-day stuff. Unattentive smoking makes it flat and bitey. Three stars. UPDATE JAN30/2009 well, I should confirm my previous considerations. Nevertheless: 1. in the pamphlet of the importing company for Italy the description of Maduro doesn't include Perique anymore, it's described as Virginia + Carolina (?). 2. Maduro is still fascinating me (beautiful the almost black weed colour, heavenly the tin aroma), and sure I will smoke it occasionally, but I have to revise my recommendation and cut one star off. Too difficult to get a completely satisfactory smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BigBear	11/08/2008	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Very Pleasant
This is a perfect tobacco to wow the missus with, it has a beautiful room note and the taste is somewhere in between licorice and dried figs. It smokes a bit wet and I find it hard to keep lit for the whole bowl, but it is a great after dessert or wine smoke. It complements anything sweet, not an every day smoke but a nice change of pace tobacco.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ads	08/29/2007	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
constantsmoker	11/18/2006	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
It has a wonderful aroma out of the tin, but that's about where it stops. Hardly the 'full strength' blend advertised. I could barely sense the presence of a rum topping, let alone Perique. It is a mild, innocuous smoke that one could puff away at all day. Unfortunately, it is unremarkable and, for that reason, not worth the price. Note: The tin I purchased is labeled "The Original Maduro".
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pipestud	04/23/2006	Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Well, I should have read Noorrmm's review and taken his advice before smoking a bowl of this blend (I received it as a sample with a tobacco order and now see why the dealer was giving this stuff away.) It smokes cool but has little flavor. I also had trouble tasting any Rum or Perique. I will say this, if ever there was a tobacco one could smoke multiple bowls of back to back, this would be it. Just too light on the palate for this cowboy.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Noorrmm	03/09/2006	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Years ago, I loved this blend, and smoked it regularly. This is not anything like the original McConnell Maduro, which was a fairly strong, stoved Virginia (similar to original Rattray Dark Fragrant). The new blend claims to be full strenght with Rum and Perique. IMHO, they are 0 for 3. The blend is dark and short cut, with some unidentified sweet aroma. I don't get Rum, and I can't find thee Perique "stewed fig" aroma. In the pipe, it lights slowly, burns cool and well, but very little flavor. There are better mild Virginias out there, some of them from Kohlhase, Kopp. Don't waste time and money on this tragic travesty.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Inquisitor	06/23/2004	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
You might be drawn to this tobacco by the references to Perique, rum and Maduro. None of these elements is noticeable, if even present. Any of these would have made this tobacco better. This tobacco has very little flavor. I am actually a little offended, since Maduro (as in cigar) and Perique imply a hefty, substantial smoke. This is a weak blend suffering from disappointment engendered by false advertising. A better description would have been "a bland cavendish with such miniscule amounts of rum and Perique as to be imperceptible, to the point where we threw the word "maduro" in to make it sound interesting."
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
NEWMAN	08/07/2002	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This blend is chopped chunks of tobacco that is almost all black from the hot processing. It is easy to pack and burns evenly and coolly. Although the tin description references Perique and a rum topping which caused my purchase, I didn't sense it in the tin aroma or taste. Don't be deceived by the Maduro name, since it's far from that style. I kept looking for enjoyable flavor but it just wasn't their from the start and degraded into a burnt and slightly bitter taste towards the bottom of the bowls. If also left my mouth extremely dry after smoking. Other smokes are more complex and more enjoyable.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Colonel Panic	03/11/2001	Very Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
Pouch Aroma: Yum! A lovely spicy-sweet aroma which makes my mouth water. It doesn't smell like a sticky-sweet black cavendish, and it has more of a Virginia tone than Burley; it reminds me of Rattray's Black Virginia or Dark Fragrant. Appearance: This is about 95% deep brown/black, with a few light flashes of medium brown - no golden pieces at all. The cut is mostly what looks like broken up cavendish cut with most of the tobacco being in 2mm x 3mm pieces. Packing and Lighting: Due to the cut, this packed quite well into an old Charatan 'blast straight Dublin which also has a nice wide draft hole - I may have to be careful to avoid a little bite. The initial light gives me a surprisingly un-sweet flavor - there is a smooth creaminess like semi-sweet chocolate (not tasting LIKE chocolate though) and the smoke is rather thin-tasting at first. It was a little difficult to get a full burn on the top as it wants to light primarily in the middle, but three lights got it going to my satisfaction Exposition: Now, underneath the initial flavor I'm getting a very light musty and spicy flavor and aroma that promises to be interesting. It's similar to the undertone that I get from Rattray's Hal o'the Wynd, but not as sharp or pronounced. This isn't a good tobacco for inattentive smoking though - I find myself having to pay more attention to tamping and keeping the burn even that I would prefer. This isn't necessarily a /bad/ thing though - there are times when I want to concentrate on the act of smoking. This tobacco is a little one-dimensional for that kind of treatment though - it tastes good, but there's not much going on. The Story: I'm thinking this might be best smoked outdoors in the fall when I take my evening walks. The burn will be helped along subtly by the wind, the flavor enhanced by the fall humidity and the aroma would mix well with that of damp leaves and the smell of rain. Sitting here at my computer on a warm summer morning, it's just not a wonderful experience. It's not bad, but I know it could be better. The flavor is deepening some as I approach the halfway mark, and that certainly helps with my enjoyment some - but I keep looking for other flavors to peek out and mingle with the sweetness and the advancing musky molasses taste. Even a smidgen of Perique would be a nice addition! Denouement: I've found myself having to work hard to avoid a tendency of this tobacco to bite my tongue, as I think I'm unconsciously trying to pull more smoke volume and flavor from this. I think it'd go better after dinner as a dessert smoke, perhaps with a cup of Darjeeling tea. As my first bowl of the day with strong black coffee it's just not working for me. The complexity never increased very much, and the flavors remained basically the same - only deepening as the bowl burns down. The nose, or smoke emanating from the bowl, is nice and leathery but that's the only really compelling aspect. I'll try it next in a wider bowl, as this Charatan has a rather tall thin chamber and that may be keeping it so one-dimensional. Pros: Mild, easy to smoke once you get a good burn going (which takes a while), and a rather innocuous and ephemeral room note. This would go well with light, astringent drinks and after a flavorful meal as a nice rest for my palate. Cons: Lacking in complexity, very light flavor, and not an attention-getting smoke. I'd smoke this more out of respect for those around me than for my own enjoyment.
Showing reviews 1 through 15 of 15 reviews of this tobacco